Starting back around 2001, numerous charges of CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE or CHILD MOLESTATION occurring within the international Jehovah's Witnesses religious community have been published in newspapers and broadcast on television and radio stations around the world. The term "Jehovah's Witness" is quickly becoming synonymous with the term "Child Molester".

In 2014, one British newspaper reported that just in the previous four years, 25 Jehovah's Witness Ministers had been convicted of child molestation related charges just in Great Britain -- where the number of Jehovah's Witnesses is relatively small. (See page 6 of this section for British court cases.) In 2015, in Australia, which has an even smaller JW community than does Great Britain, the WatchTower Society turned over to Government "child sexual abuse" investigators 5000 files detailing incidents of child molestation committed by more than 1000 Australian Jehovah's Witnesses -- none of which had been reported to the authorities by the WatchTower Society. (See page 7 of this section for Australia court cases.)

Despite the fact that the WatchTower Society publicly preaches that it has done MORE than any other religious organization in the world to address child sexual abuse within its own ranks, one Australian Law Professor who is a sex crimes expert declared that the WatchTower Society has emerged as the religious group which is the LEAST able or willing to deal with child sexual abuse within its own ranks.

Jehovah's Witnesses evidently have as many, if not more, sexual predators in their insular religious community as does any other religious or social group in the world. Over the decades, Jehovah's Witnesses have been anecdotally labeled as "the most sexually repressed group of people on planet Earth". That attribution has caused some people to believe that Jehovah's Witnesses are less likely to commit sex crimes than other members of the general population. Growing evidence seems to point to the exact opposite.

After reading/browsing the summarized child molestation cases on our SEVEN webpages, persons who are further interested in the specific issue of Jehovah's Witness Child Molestation should visit the SILENTLAMBS.ORGwebsite, which is devoted exclusively to the issue of sexual crimes committed against children by members of the Jehovah's Witnesses community. The owner/operator of that website has been featured in multiple international news reports and documentaries broadcast on nearly every major television network over the past 15 years. He is a former Jehovah's Witness Elder who labels the Jehovah's Witness religious community as a "Pedophile's Paradise". There is no point in our trying to duplicate what that website already does well.However, we will post on these SEVEN webpages those JW court cases which other related websites have overlooked; those pre-2001 court cases which occurred before other websites existed; and those post-2001 cases for which we possess additional details/insights.

Readers should note that amongst the first cases on each of the pages of this 7-page MOLESTATION section are criminal cases which involve criminal defendants who were currently or formerly WATCHTOWER BETHELITES, GILEAD MISSIONARIES, or are/were otherwise PROMINENT Jehovah's Witnesses.

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JEHOVAH'S WITNESS MINISTER

FORMER EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL FOSTER PARENTS ORGANIZATION

CONVICTED CHILD MOLESTER

HAWAII v. LOUIS ALBERTO MARTINEZ A/K/A DAVID LOUIS was a Hawaii 2013-16 criminal prosecution of a Jehovah's Witness Minister (Aiea Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses) with multiple aliases -- Louis A. Martinez, David Louis, and David Barber. DOB: 1976. JW Minister claimed to have been a troubled foster child who had been born in Los Angeles, California, and thereafter placed into 30 different foster homes and 19 different schools.

Only in his 30s, JW Minister claimed that he had held a plethora of employment positions over the years working with troubled children. In 2005, using the alias David Louis, JW Minister founded Heart Gallery Hawaii-- the Oahu affiliate of Heart Gallery of America Inc. -- a national organization that recruits parents for hard-to-adopt foster children by publicly displaying photos and biographies of hard-to-place foster children. In 2006, JW Minister authored his autobiography, "Scars That Can Heal", under the alias David Louis. In January 2009, David Louis was named Executive Director of the national organization -- Heart Gallery of America Inc.

In May 2013, JW Minister was indicted for having sexually assaulted in October 2011 a passed-out 16 year-old girl to whom JW Minister had given liquor. Thereafter, JW Minister also was charged with sexually assaulting his 11 year-old daughter in 2011. At some point while out on bail, JW Minister fled to California, and had to be extradited back to Hawaii. In January 2015, a jury deliberated less than three hours before finding JW Minister guilty of three counts of felony sexual assault, one count of attempted felony sexual assault, and two counts of misdemeanor sexual assault. In 2016, JW Minister, then age 40, was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

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TENNESSEE v. TROY LEE LOVE is an ongoing 2013-17 Tennessee criminal court case which involves one of the most prominent Jehovah's Witness Elders in eastern Tennessee. The Love Family of eastern Tennessee is a large, extended, multi-generation family of Jehovah's Witnesses, with the "Love" and "Thomas" branches of this extended family originally being from Michigan. Troy L. Love was a longtime ELDER at the West Knoxville Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses, who was regularly chosen to speak at WatchTower conventions and assemblies over the decades. (The introduction of "Brother Love" always brought forth giggles from attendees outside Troy Love's own circuit.)

Troy Love and his now deceased wife, Judy Love, were best friends with infamously murdered Jehovah's Witnesses, Vidar Lillelid and his wife, Delfina Lillelid, whom along with their two young children, were kidnapped and/or murdered after JW Pioneer, Vidar Lillelid, attempted to proselytize a gang of hoodlum teenagers whom also had stopped at the same Tennessee I-81 rest area in April 1997.

Troy Love and Judy Love apparently served as the pre-approved (required) local spokespersons for the WatchTower Cult with regard to the Lillelid family. Multiple newspapers quoted Troy Love and/or Judy Love in their articles about the Lillelid murders, and Troy Love even appeared in a movie about same. (Judith Ellen Thomas Love died in June 2012 due to "complications" during hip surgery -- another "no-blood-transfusion" suicide???)

In 2014, Troy Lee Love, then age 61, was found guilty by a Knoxville jury of two counts of rape of a child, and one count of aggravated sexual battery. Troy Love was sentenced to consecutive terms of twenty-five years each for the rape of a child convictions and to a concurrent term of ten years for aggravated sexual battery, for an effective sentence of fifty years to be served as a Violent Offender. On appeal, in 2017, the conviction on the two counts of rape of a child were affirmed, but the conviction on the one count of aggravated sexual battery was overturned, with the case being remanded for a new trial on that count. Outcome pending.

Troy Lee Love's victim was one of his step-great-granddaughters (Troy Love's only children were Judy Thomas's two daughters from a previous marriage), whom Troy Love sexually assaulted multiple times when she was between the ages of 6 and 8 years old -- at both his home and the home of the victim. The young victim's own mother reported the matter to police in January 2013 after the victim began revealing bits and pieces of her prior sexual molestations to a babysitter. Troy L. Love was arrested in August 2013 after the victim's mother and grandmother assisted police in obtaining partial admissions of the molestations from Troy Love. Typically, the court record indicates that the JW Molester repeatedly blew kisses to his victim during his trial. Also typically, this supposedly was Troy Lee Love's first ever run-in with the law.

INTERESTINGLY, in 2000, Judy Love naively related to one newspaper reporter that over the years that various Lillelid family members, including Tabitha Lillelid, who was 6 years old when she was murdered back in 1997, had been frequent guests at the Love's home. There, Troy Love maintained several different kinds of animals to which children in the congregation were attracted. INTERESTINGLY, on the Sunday of the murders, the Love and Lillelid families had separately traveled to Johnson City, Tennessee, to attend a WatchTower circuit convention. Troy Love later related that the Lillelid Family had been invited to "caravan" with other members of their congregation back to Knoxville after the circuit convention was over, but Vidar Lillelid had declined the invitation. INTERESTINGLY, another author reports that some of the Lillelids' other fellow congregants told the author that the Lillelids kept a close watch on their two children, and refused to allow anyone to babysit Tabitha or Peter. One can't help but wonder if that strict vigilance regarding their children and the distancing of themselves from their fellow JWs actually was a recent change brought on by certain suspicions???

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A related Tipster reports that the pending 2017 marriage between a 76 year-old JW Pioneer widow and an 85 year-old JW Elder widower living in both Ohio and Tennessee has been placed on "pause" after the future JW Bride discovered what she believed to be an unhealthy preoccupation with very young females by JW Elder. The Tipster reports that -- like many other Jehovah's Witnesses -- JW Elder's watching of television was publicly constrained to channels like DISNEY, NICK, FAMILY, etc. Tipster alleges, however, that JW Bride gradually began to notice that JW Elder routinely surfed from family channel to family channel so as to constantly watch programs which featured pre-teen and teenaged girls -- despite the juvenile themes of such programs. Tipster alleges that JW Elder seemed to have a special place in his heart for Hannah Montana, in particular.

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JW ELDER RAPED & MURDERED JW TEEN INSIDE THEIR KINGDOM HALL

HONDURAS v. JOSE MANUEL PAVON was a 2011-13 Honduras MURDER court case. In October 2010, a 24 year-old Jehovah's Witness Elder named Jose Manuel Pavon summoned Police to the Colonia Nueva Suyapa Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses, located in the capitol city of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, where Jose Pavon claimed that he had just discovered the body of 16 year-old Cindy Marbella Aleman Cerrato -- a fellow Jehovah's Witness congregant whom Pavron had known since she was 9 years-old and since he was 17 years-old. Cindy Cerrato had been raped and strangled to death. Due to the typical lack of cooperation with the authorities from that Kingdom Hall's Body of Elders, who undoubtedly were following instructions from the WatchTower Society's Honduras Branch Office, eventually, both the JW Parents of the victim and residents of the local neighborhood began protesting the failure of the local JW leaders to help Police solve the Kingdom Hall murder.

More than a year later, in November 2011, Jose Manuel Pavon was arrested for the MURDER of Sindy Cerrato after he was identified as the rapist by a DNA test (not known whether Pavon submitted a sample or whether police surreptitiously obtained a sample). Jose Pavron first denied that he was the rapist/murderer, but Pavon eventually confessed that on the morning of the murder that he had offered the trusting Cindy Cerrato a ride after he drove by her and saw that she had missed her school bus. Pavon then took Cerrato to their local Kingdom Hall with the excuse that he needed to pick up some items. Convincing Cerrato to come inside, Pavon then attacked the trusting teenager in an attempt to rape her. To muffle her screams, Pavon pushed a rag down her throat, plus strangled her with his hands. In Spring 2013, Jose Manuel Pavon was convicted of homicide and sentenced to 17 years in prison.

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In 1955, the WatchTower Society's married BRANCH SERVANT in Honduras, Woodrow "Woody" Blackburn, was caught carrying on a sexual affair with a Honduran female whom was described in the WATCHTOWER magazine as a "GIRL of ill fame". CLICK HERE to read more.

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CALIFORNIA v. STEVEN MARTIN LINDHORST was a 2015 California criminal prosecution of a prominent Jehovah's Witness Elder and former WATCHTOWER BETHELITE named Steven M. Lindhorst, of Paso Robles, California. Steven Lindhorst was arrested in early January 2015 after his wife, Wendy Lindhorst, reported to both their local Body of Elders and Paso Robles police that her husband, Steven Lindhorst, was viewing "child pornography" on a computer at their home.

Reportedly, sometime during mid-2014, Wendy Lindhorst had caught her husband viewing on his computer photos of fully/partially-clothed teenage girls in sexually-suggestive poses. Then, in late December 2014, Wendy Lindhorst discovered a "male masturbation device", lubricant, and two pairs of female teenager panties - one stained - hidden in a drawer next to her husband's computer. Wendy Lindhorst "suspected" that this had been going on for years. She recalled her husband making comments about the breast size of one of their friend's 12 year old twin daughters. Many years earlier, Wendy Lindhorst had learned that her husband had been buying gifts for an underage girl who then lived in Atascadero, California.

Wendy Lindhorst reported her "discoveries" to the local JW Body of Elders, and that same night, Steven Lindhorst and Wendy Lindhorst met with two local JW Elders, where Steve Lindhorst denied viewing or possessing "child pornography". Three days later, Steven Lindhorst returned home from work to find his computer, hard drive, and his wife, all missing from the couple's home. That night, Steve Lindhorst allegedly "confessed" to two JW Elders that he had been viewing and/or downloading "child pornography" since 1986.

The next day, January 1, 2015, Wendy Lindhorst went to the local police with her story, and with her husband's computer and hard drive. Wendy Lindhorst told police that her husband had "confessed" to her and two JW Elders to downloading and viewing "child pornography". Paso Robles Police then contacted those two JW Elders, who reportedly confirmed Steven Lindhorst's "confession". That information was used by the police to obtain a search warrant which would permit them to search the computer equipment turned over to them by Wendy Lindhorst. Detectives allegedly found 24,000 images and 200 videos on both the computer and hard drive -- much of which reportedly showed pubescent children engaging in sex acts, and some of which appeared to police to have been made by Steven Lindhorst himself.

Steve M. Lindhorst, age 51, was arrested on suspicion of felony charges of a lewd act with a child under the age of 14, possession of child pornography, possession of explicit child pornography, and the posting of intimate photos of another without their consent, a misdemeanor. Investigators reportedly have identified and contacted 14 local victims. As of July 2015, Steve Lindhorst had not yet been released on $160,000.00 bail. Lindhorst has pleaded "not guilty".

In July 2015, Steve Lindhorst's attorney contested the validity of the search warrant, which was partially based on the disclosure of Steve Lindhorst's claimed "privileged" confession to the two JW Elders. However, the judge ruled that Wendy Lindhorst's info alone was sufficient basis for that search warrant. The disclosure of Steve Lindhorst's claimed "confidential" confession to those two JW Elders (assumedly made in the presence of Wendy Lindhorst) will likely be an issue during the pending criminal trial -- if a plea bargain is not accepted.

Steven Lindhorst is/was a Jehovah's Witness Minister who reportedly was a WATCHTOWER BETHELITE who worked at WATCHTOWER WORLD HQ from 1983 until 1986. Steve Lindhorst is a brother-in-law to Allan Sukram and Sarah Sukram who currently work at the HQ of the WATCHTOWER SOCIETY OF SOUTH AFRICA. Originally from Michigan, the son of Kurt Lindhorst and Sandra Lindhorst, Steve is a prominent internet e-commerce guru, who worked for years for eBay(maybe that explains some things), and who currently operates Lindhorst Consulting.

UPDATE: In September 2015, Lindhorst pleaded "no contest" to one count of lewd act with a child under the age of 14 and one count of possession of matter depicting a minor engaging in sexual conduct., and was sentenced to six years in prison. In July 2016, the Court of Appeals of California affirmed Lindhorst's conviction.

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NEW JERSEY v. COLE DYKSTRA was a 2001-03 New Jersey murder court case. In August 2003, a 26 year-old Jehovah's Witness, named Cole Dykstra, son of a JW Mother, named Nancy Dykstra, plea bargained "guilty" to reduced charges of "Aggravated Manslaughter", and was sentenced to 28 years in prison, for the August 2001 murder of 16 year-old Arthur Trussell. Dykstra won't be eligible for parole until May 2025.

Cole Dykstra reportedly had recently served as a BETHELITE at WATCHTOWER SOCIETY world headquarters. Dykstra allegedly either had been kicked out of WatchTower HQ, or had suffered other organizational sanctions, due to alleged homosexual tendencies and/or activities. Dykstra reportedly thereafter attempted suicide. Around October/November 2000, a Ringwood, New Jersey Jehovah's Witness couple, named Terrence Trussell and Vicki Sue Trussell, invited Dykstra to live with them and their two teenaged sons, Andrew Trussell and Arthur Trussell, while he sorted through his personal issues.

It is not known whether the Trussells had known Cole Dykstra prior to his having volunteered at WatchTower HQ, or whether all these Jehovah's Witnesses were recent acquaintances at the West Milford Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses. In any event, one can't imagine that the Trussells would have invited Dykstra to live with them and their two teenage sons if they had known the reasons behind his recent failed suicide attempt. And, if they did not know, such raises even more questions as to why they had not been informed about such by their fellow JWs. Over the ten month period that Cole Dykstra, then age 24, had lived with the Trussells, Dykstra had fallen in love with 16 year-old Arthur Trussell, and possibly had made such known via homosexual advances. On the evening of August 5, 2001, 16 year-old Arthur Tressell reportedly had gone out on a date with a female. Such apparently upset Dykstra, and Dykstra and Trussell reportedly argued after Trussell had returned home from the date. Later that night, in the AM hours of August 6, 2001, after Trussell had fallen asleep, Dykstra struck Trussell on the head with a beer bottle, and then stabbed the teenager in his stomach with an 8 inch kitchen knife. Terry Trussell and Vicki Trussell reportedly were alerted to trouble in their home when Dykstra stole and left in one of the family's autos.

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PENNSYLVANIA v. ANDREW S. HUGHES was a 2014-15 Pennsylvania criminal court case in which a 27 year-old Jehovah's Witness named Andrew Steven Hughes, of Bradford, Pennsylvania, who had had a sexual relationship with an unidentified 15 year-old girl in February 2013, pled guilty to only one count of statutory sexual assault. In March 2015, the sentencing judge actually INCREASED Hughes sentence from whatever was agreed to in the plea deal made by the local prosecutor. Andrew Hughes will serve one to three years in state prison, and he will have to register as a sex offender for 25 years after his release.

STATE v. ANDREW S. HUGHES. During the above proceedings, it was disclosed that Andrew Steven Hughes had sexually assaulted another female when he lived in another state (probably New York) when he was a juvenile -- and apparently received the typical "juvenile" hand slap.

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OHIO v. JORDAN ABRAHAM LINTON was a 2010-11 Ohio criminal court case. In March 2010, a Jehovah's Witness Minister named Jordan A. Linton, then age 25, was arrested and charged with Gross Sexual Imposition committed against his 11 year-old niece (or, wife's niece). Charges were filed by the girl's mother (unidentified) after the young girl returned home and reported being sexually molested while she spent the night at the home of Jordan and Erica LaShone Allen Linton. (The Lintons and Allens are large, extended Jehovah's Witness families living in Ohio and Florida.)

Jordan A. Linton (Computer Programmer/Networker) was arrested and taken to Southeastern Ohio Regional Jail in April 2010. Linton spent three days in jail until his JW Parents, Tamera Lee Linton and Jess Sayre Linton, posted $5000.00 bond. In a November 2010 plea deal, Jordan A. Linton pleaded guilty to one count of Gross Sexual Imposition in exchange for 3 years in prison, 5 years probation thereafter, and registration as a sex offender for 25 years. Sentenced January 2011.

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UNITED STATES v. BRIAN C. WILKERSON was a 2009-10 Massachusetts federal prosecution of an African-American Jehovah's Witness Firefighter named Brian Wilkerson, of Springfield, Massachusetts. Brian Wilkerson had worked as a Springfield Mass firefighter for 11 years prior to being arrested at department headquarters in June 2009. Brian Wilkerson was accused of both receiving and viewing CHILD PORNOGRAPHY at both his home and while at work on the station's computer -- from August 2005 through September 2008. In October 2009, Wilkerson pled guilty to four counts of receiving child pornography and one count of possessing child pornography, and was sentenced to five years in prison.

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JOSE LOPEZ v. WATCHTOWER SOCIETY. In October 2014, a San Diego, California trial court judge awarded Jehovah's Witness child molestation victim Jose Lopez a total of $13,500,000.00 in his civil lawsuit against the Watchtower Bible & Tract Society of New York. The award included $3,000,000.00 compensatory damages and $10,500,000.00 PUNITIVE damages. This civil award is significant in that it is believed to be the second largest total judgement against the WatchTower Society made to a single victim of child molestation (settlements excluded). The largest total judgment of $28,000,000.00, in CANDACE CONTI v. WATCHTOWER ET AL (June 2012), also a California civil case, was split between multiple defendants, and is currently being appealed/settled for a lower amount, as will this judgment.

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TIMOTHY LOPEZ v. WATCHTOWER SOCIETY ET AL (2014). Timothy Lopez, now age 38, was sexually molested in 1992, when he was 16 years-old, by a member of the Park Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses, which was located in Orange County, California. In December 2014, the Park Congregation and the WatchTower Society were granted a summary dismissal of this lawsuit based on expiration of the statute of limitations.

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The following 1982 NEW YORK criminal prosecution and conviction of a prominent Jehovah's Witness Elder CHILD MOLESTER is a highly significant court case in this genre because it was this case which likely "motivated" the WatchTower Society Leadership to make the move to eliminate SWORN POLICE OFFICERS from serving as "Elders" in local congregations, where those Sworn Police Officers were privy to the Cult's various internal secrets, including criminal conduct of its growing membership, which the "FAITHFUL & DISCREET SLAVE" wanted to kept hidden from public view.

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NEW YORK v. DONALD J. NICHOLSON JR was the 1982-83 New York state criminal prosecution and conviction of a POPULAR and PROMINENT Jehovah's Witness Elder named Donald Nicholson Jr., then age 45, of the Warrensburg, New York Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses. Donald Nicholson is reported to have served as Convention Overseer or Department Head at multiple WatchTower conventions over the years.

The charismatic and previously well-liked Donald J. Nicholson is alleged to have sexually molested multiple children of his fellow Jehovah's Witnesses over the years before finally being publicly exposed as a pedophile. It is further alleged that multiple reports of alleged molestations may have been "buried" for many years before Don Nicholson finally made the mistake of molesting the young daughter of his own congregation's Presiding Overseer, Lee Steele, who just so happened to be employed as a New York State Trooper.

Allegedly, when Lee Steele initially learned of his daughter's molestation, Steele was pressured to keep the matter within the organization and out of public view. Being a sworn Police Officer, Steele refused to "play ball" with the Circuit Overseer and other WatchTower Cult representatives as to keeping the matter within the organization, or thereafter "shaping" his testimony so as to keep the WatchTower's teachings and policies out of the matter. In June 1982, with the cooperation of Steele and others, Don Nicholson was indicted on two counts of RAPE and two counts of sexual abuse commited against two females less than 11 years-old committed during Summer 1979.

In November 1982, when alleged efforts to intimidate other local JW Elders failed, with Steele and at least one other local JW Elder agreeing to testify honestly and completely against Nicholson, Donald J. Nicholson thereafter agreed to plead "guilty" to only the two counts of sexual abuse -- for which he received a sentence of 27 to 84 months in prison. Affirmed on appeal in December 1983.

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Although the WatchTower Society had taught since World War I that its members should not bear arms in the Military, it was not until immediately after this case, where the WatchTower Society was unable to control the Presiding Overseer, that the "FAITHFUL & DISCREET SLAVE" decided that it was no longer a very good idea to continue to allow Sworn Police Officers to serve as "Elders" in its local congregations. Although issued earlier, the new policy was announced to the entire public in the July 15, 1983 issue of the WATCHTOWER magazine, which stated in part:

"During these 'last days,' many employees are expected to carry a firearm. Bank or security guards, watchmen and policemen may even be required to do so to hold employment. But what of the Christian, who is obligated to 'provide for those who are his own'? ... His Bible-trained viewpoint would be different from that of worldly persons, who feel free to carry such weapons and to use them as they see fit in any dangerous situation that may arise. ... He will want to avoid bloodguilt, having in mind Jehovah's viewpoint on the sanctity of blood. ... A mature Christian should try to find unarmed employment. Some Witnesses by talking with their employer have been successful in changing to a job that does not require carrying a weapon. As the world becomes increasingly violent we can no longer regard as exemplary a brother who continues in armed employment.He could be allowed six months to make a change. If he does not make a change, he would not be in a position to hold special privileges of service and responsibility in the congregation."

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OHIO v. JOEL EDWARD COVENDER was a 1994-2014 Ohio criminal prosecution. In April 1996, a Jehovah's Witness Minister named Joel Edward Covender, then age 27, and then of Amherst, Ohio, was WRONGFULLY CONVICTED BY A JURY of two counts each of gross sexual imposition and felonious sexual penetration for sexually molesting both his Stepdaughter, Amber Slone, (when she was around 5 to 6 years-old) and his Stepson, Joshua Slone, (when he was around 3 to 4 years-old). Joel E. Covender was sentenced to 15 to 50 years in prison. In 1997, the Ohio Court of Appeals AFFIRMED Joel E. Covender's wrongful conviction.

As best as we can put together from media reports, the false accusations of child molestation against Joel Covender began around late 1993 after the paternal grandparents of Amber Slone and Joshua Slone, and parents of the childrens' father, David Slone, discovered the then 6 year-old Amber Slone fondling the genitals of the then 4 year-old Joshua Slone. Thereafter, during multiple recorded inquiries, the then 6 year-old Amber Slone falsely described how her new Stepfather, "Daddy Joel", had been fondling her genitals since she was around 5 years-old. Joel E. Covender was formally charged in April 1994. Amber Slone later gave the same false testimony during the 1996 prosecution, along with false accusations of non-sexual physical and psychological abuse by Joel Covender to both herself and her mother, including Amber Slone falsely alleging that "Daddy Joel" even had told her that there were "demons" hiding under her bed -- all of which resulted in apparently unnecessary extensive counseling therapy for Amber Slone.

In December 2006, Joshua Slone and Amber Slone appeared at a parole hearing for Joel E. Covender, and fully/partially recanted their accusations, and asked that he be set free. Ohio's Parole Board did in fact parole Joel Edward Covender in February 2007. Thereafter, 18 year-old Joshua Slone and 20 year-old Amber Slone began to assist Joel Covender in an effort to gain a new trial.David Slone, natural father of Amber Slone and Joshua Slone, even joined the effort. In 2008, David Slone testified that he had personally "witnessed" his own Mother coaching Amber and Joshua to LIE regarding being sexually molested by Joel Covender. David Slone's testimony is especially interesting given that Joel Covender and April Covender reportedly had had to pursue David Slone for child support payments back in the 1990s -- thus the Covenders evidently had not always had a good relationship with David Slone.

In July 2007, Lorain County Judge James Miraldi granted Joel Covender a new trial, but a series of appeals ensued by both sides. Because Joshua Slone emphatically maintained that he had LIED when he accused Joel Covender of molesting him when he was a young child, the Prosecutor was forced to drop the charges relating to Joshua Slone and proceed only with the charges relating to Amber Slone Broadwater, since Amber Broadwater had simply declared that she had no present memory of being molested by Joel Covender. After seven years of multiple appeals by both sides, the new trial took place in October 2014 -- with the 2014 Prosecutor tasked with the job of proving "beyond a reasonable doubt" that in 1993-94 that Joel Covender had molested two young children, who as adults were now recanting their prior accusations.

Joel Covender's basic defense, in both 1996 and 2014, was the same "defense" which was used by the WatchTower Society for decades to deflect accusations of child molestation within its midst -- children are "liars" who are easily manipulated by Satan and his earthly opposers of the WatchTower Society.

At the October 2014 trial, Amber Broadwater reportedly claimed that she had no memory of ever being molested by Joel Covender, no memory of her accusations of such, and no memory of testifying during Joel Covender's 1994-96 prosecution. Amber Broadwater stopped short of testifying that she had lied when she accused Joel Covender of molesting her back in 1994-96, but Amber did testify that she lied lots of times during that same time period, and that she now "believes" that she was NOT molested by him. Amber Slone's Aunt testified during the 2014 re-trial that back around 2007-08 that Amber Slone had told the Aunt that she was assisting Joel Covender to rid himself of his "registered sex offender" status so that Joel Covender could have a relationship with her younger half-sister and half-brother. The Prosecutor has a tape recording of that conversation. (April Kullman-Slone-Covender-Goode married Joel Covender in Feb 1991, and had another son and another daughter with Joel Covender in 1992 and 1993. One of those children has already produced a granddaughter for Joel Covender.)

Jehovah's Witness Ex-Wife/Mother April Goode reportedly had never ever believed that Joel Covender had sexually molested her two children from her previous marriage, and because she fully supported her JW Husband, she even lost custody of Amber Slone and Joshua Slone from 1996 until 2000. April Covender divorced Joel Covender in June 2000, but April reportedly was pleased that Joel Covender was able to rid himself of all these false charges. It would be interesting to know what Jehovah's Witness connections, if any, which the Kullman, Covender, Goode, Broadwater, and Slone families had/have during this travesty of justice. Although the "Slone" Grandparents reportedly objected to their grandchildren being reared as "Jehovah's Witnesses", there are media "hints" that seem to point to some of the Slone Family having JW connections.

In October 2014, Judge James Miraldi, the same Lorain County judge who ordered a new trial for Joel Covender back in 2007, and who presided over most if not all of the local hearings held regarding such between 2007 and 2014, granted Joel Edward Covender a verdict of NOT GUILTY. GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!

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JOEL EDWARD COVENDER v. OHIO is an ongoing 2013 Ohio civil lawsuit in which Joel E. Covender seeks unspecified damages for "wrongful imprisonment" from the State of Ohio for his conviction related to Joshua Slone's false allegations. Covender's attorney has stated that they will now file a second civil lawsuit for Covender's conviction on Amber Slone's false allegations.

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TEXAS v. REGINALD TYRONE JACKSON was a 2005-07 Texas criminal court case. Reginald T. Jackson, then age 50, was arrested in August 2005 on charges of Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child. Reginald Jackson was convicted in April 2007 of Indecency With a Child - Sexual Contact, and spent approximately six months in jail, and is currently a Registered Sex Offender living in Dallas, Texas.

FIVE FEMALE JW DOES v. REGINALD TYRONE JACKSON ET AL is an ongoing October 2014 Texas civil lawsuit in which Reginald Jackson is accused of sexually assaulting five different Jehovah's Witness Female Children who attended the Greenville Texas Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses during the 1980s and 1990s, where Reginald Jackson, himself the African-American father of three sons and one daughter, served as both a Ministerial Servant and an Elder. Jackson allegedly would begin molesting his victims when they were as young as 4 years-old, and continued molesting them until they were teenagers, or as available.

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INDIANA v. MICHAEL P. SHENEMAN was a 2006-08 Indiana criminal prosecution which involved Michael Sheneman, age 56, of South Bend, Indiana. In April 2008, Mike Sheneman plea bargained guilty to Class D felony sexual misconduct with a minor under the age of 16 after the 15 year-old girl whom Sheneman had allegedly paid for sex refused to testify against him. Sheneman was sentenced to one year in jail, with that time suspended, and three years of probation. Sheneman was also ordered to perform 1,000 hours of community service and pay a $5,000 fine. The Judge also stated that if he hears that Michael Sheneman is telling people he did not really commit the crime to which he pleaded guilty, he will send him to jail for contempt of court. INTERESTINGLY, Sheneman's probation was ended early in February 2010 after Sheneman supposedly completed 1200 hours of "community service" -- 200 hours more than ordered.

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INDIANA v. ANDREW J. BEAM was a 2006-07 Indiana criminal prosecution of a person whose name appears in court cases involving Sheneman business operations. Andrew Beam, then age 39, was charged with "Criminal Deviate Conduct" in November 2006, which was the same month during which Mike Sheneman was charged above. In 2008, Andy Beam was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

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MISSOURI v. MATTHEW JAMES TULLER was a 2003-04 Missouri state criminal court case. In June 2003, a Jehovah's Witness named Matthew J. Tuller, age 29, of Carthage, Missouri, was arrested for child molestation after his 13 year-old sister-in-law alleged to her mother and police that her brother-in-law had sexually assaulted her hundreds of times over the course of the previous four years whenever she visited at the home of Tuller and her older sister. The victim alleged that Matthew Tuller gained her temporary confidentiality by telling her that he was in love with her. Matthew James Tuller was convicted of first degree child molestation in June 2004, and was sentenced to ten years in prison. Tuller was released from prison in June 2011. Matthew James Tuller is the son of a well known Jehovah's Witness in Carthage, named Ronald Tuller, who operated Ron's Mug & Brush Barber Shop until his death in 2013.

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MISSOURI v. MATTHEW TULLER was a 2006 pending prosecution in Carthage, Missouri, of "a" Matthew Tuller on charges of "promoting child pornography in the first degree". Outcome unknown. Unknown if this "Matthew Tuller" is "Matthew James Tuller".

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MISSOURI v. ROBERT J. EISENHOUER ET AL was a 2001 Missouri Supreme Court decision. This case demonstrates how cooperative are Jehovah's Witness Elders and the WatchTower Society when it comes to criminal prosecutions of accused child molesters who are members of their Congregations. Missouri officials had accused a Jehovah's Witness, named Robert Eisenhouer, of Cabool, Missouri, of sexually abusing his two stepdaughters -- ages three and four. Eisenhouer had been charged with two counts of statutory rape in the first degree, and two counts of statutory sodomy in the first degree. From their investigation, Missouri officials believed that Eisenhouer had admitted such to Richard Bloom and Charles Graham, who were elders in the Cabool, Missouri Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses.

The two JW Elders apparently refused to disclose such information, so the state issued investigative subpoenas ordering Bloom and Graham to appear at the Texas County prosecuting attorney's office and "to bring the following: any and all relevant materials, including personal knowledge, regarding State v. Eisenhower".

In response, Bloom and Graham filed a motion to quash the subpoenas. (Bloom and Graham would have been following directions from WatchTower Headquarters.)In their motion to quash, the Jehovah's Witnesses argued that the subpoenas required them to disclose a "privileged communication" made to them in their capacity as ministers providing spiritual advice and counseling. They argued that compelling them to disclose this information violated their right to "free exercise of religion".

In response, the state argued that the Missouri law which deals with child sex abuse negated the "minister-communicant privilege" in cases of known or suspected child abuse or neglect. Together, Robert Eisenhouer, Richard Bloom, and Charles Graham, argued that the Missouri child abuse law was unconstitutional, because it violated the Jehovah's Witnesses right to "free exercise of religion".

The trial court ruled in the three JWs favor, and quashed the subpoenas. The state appealed. The Supreme Court of Missouri declined to rule on the constitutionality of the Missouri law, but affirmed the quashing of the subpoenas on the grounds that the pertinent statute permitted the subpoenas to be used to obtain only "books, papers, records, or other material."

Interestingly, the criminal prosecution has been repeatedly "continued" up until 2012. Current status unknown. Despite public expressions of outrage by the victims' mother, indications are that she and the victims have been less than fully cooperative with this prosecution.

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INDIANA v. JEFFREY CHARLES BUZZARD was a 2013-14 Indiana criminal court case. In 2009, Jeffrey C. Buzzard and his newly wedded wife (his second), Stacy Alane Buzzard, of Fort Wayne, Indiana, were the subjects of multiple articles published in the general media and medical journals which chronicled Jehovah's Witness Stacy Buzzard's much heralded "miraculous" recovery after a complicated surgery to remove a malignant brain tumor. Stacy Buzzard died in January 2012. Stacy Hendry Buzzard left behind a teenage son and a teenage daughter from a previous marriage.

In March 2013, Jeffrey Buzzard, age 43, reportedly a member of the Fort Wayne, Indiana, Edgewood Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses, was arrested on five counts of child molestation and five counts of child seduction after Buzzard's 19 year-old step-daughter was voluntarily admitted to a hospital for treatment for mental health issues. During treatment, she disclosed that Buzzard had started molesting her when she was in the 4th grade, that Buzzard had started having intercourse with her during her 6th grade in school, and that Buzzard had continued doing so until she reached age 18, in June 2011. The step-daughter told police that Buzzard had threatened to commit suicide when she informed him of her plans to report him to authorities. At trial, the step-daughter described how Buzzard used her mother's terminal illness to manipulate the relationship and to trap and isolate her.

In January 2014, Jeffrey Charles Buzzard was convicted on all ten counts, and in February 2014 was sentenced to a total of 126 years in prison. Throughout his arrest and prosecution, Buzzard adamantly denied every allegation, posed himself as the actual victim, and compared his prosecution to that of the "Salem Witch Trials" -- a "typical" Jehovah's Witness.

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KENTUCKY v. DONOVAN JAMES MOORE is an ongoing 2015-16 Kentucky criminal court case in which an African-American Jehovah's Witness named Donovan J. Moore, age 53, of Lexington, Kentucky, is being prosecuted on four counts of third-degree rape and four counts of third-degree sodomy for allegedly engaging in sexual intercourse and sodomy with his ex-wife in 1997 and 1998, when she was only 15 years-old, and when Donovan Moore was 35 years old. Donovan James Moore and Abra Moore eventually married in 2002, had one daughter and one son, but divorced on December 28, 2011. See ABRA MOORE v. DONOVAN MOORE.

KENTUCKY v. DONOVAN JAMES MOORE. Donovan Moore remarried in January 2012. In September 2012, Donovan James Moore was arrested for Flagrant Non-support. Outcome unknown.

At the time of the alleged sexual assaults, Donovan Moore and his ex-wife were both members of the Stanford Kentucky Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses. Commonwealth Attorney, Eddy F. Montgomery, stated at the November 2015 pre-trial conference that, "... the church was aware of it and basically covered it up, similar to the Catholic church deal. Then the victim ended up getting married to this gentleman and having children with him. ... Basically the church told her not to report this and kept it in house. The analogy Ive made would be the Catholic church sex abuse cases ... ."

My Jehovah's Witness Relatives have long maintained a certain degree of prestige within the local Jehovah's Witness community due to my family's JW Matriarch having professed to be "one of the anointed remnant", or, "one of the 144,000", since that distinction in the JW ranks was made by the WatchTower Society back in the 1930s.

Although "Anointed JW Matriarch" never worked outside the home, she also was well-known, or infamous, throughout the local non-JW community as a multi-decades long preacher of the WatchTower Society's "gospel". Anointed JW Matriarch was a "child" of the "Judge Rutherford" era of the WatchTower Society. She was arrested in the 1940s for preaching the WatchTower Society's "gospel" when other JWs also were being arrested. In the early 1950s, for approximately a year and a half (amusingly during the exact same time that Firstborn Son was being drafted into the U.S. Army), Anointed JW Matriarch had a monthly pro-WatchTower column published in the local newspaper, which brought her even more notoriety amongst Local non-JWs. In 1958, Anointed JW Matriarch was amongst the record-setting attendees at the WatchTower Society's much heralded International Convention held in Yankee Stadium.

Anointed JW Matriarch reared three sons and two daughters, and sadly, many of her grandchildren --- for various reasons, including lack of parenting skills and lack of maternal and paternal instinct on the part of Anointed JW Matriarch's own children. Despite the fact that it was known that Anointed JW Matriarch liked her sons better than her daughters, only her two daughters became and remained JWs.

Both JW Daughters have repeatedly professed that they each look forward to living in the WatchTower's promised earthly paradise -- which they both believe will be co-ruled by their own Mother. Although the two daughters were reared as third-generation Jehovah's Witnesses during the far less morally corrupt 1940s-50s, Youngest Daughter became pregnant out-of-wedlock when she was only 16 years-old, in 1959. After a disastrous marriage and divorce from first Baby-Daddy, Youngest Daughter found her second non-JW husband by breaking up his first marriage. Youngest Daughter did not get baptized until 1973 -- just before Armageddon occurred in October 1975. In the early 1960s, baptized Oldest Daughter did manage to graduate from college before then stupidly marrying a JW Immigrant whom she met at a NYC WatchTower Convention, but that incompatible marriage lasted only briefly. Oldest Daughter shortly thereafter began an affair with an elderly, married non-JW work supervisor, and she was eventually disfellowshiped after the local Body of Elders finally discovered that both Oldest Daughter and Anointed JW Matriarch had kept that first adulterous affair hidden from the congregation. Oldest Daughter thereafter began a relationship with and eventually married another much older non-JW.

Although all of JW Matriarch's grandchildren from children #2 through #5 sporadically attended the Kingdom Hall during their formative years, only three of Anointed JW Matriarch's multiple grandchildren ever became JWs, but none of the three are JWs now. None of Anointed JW Matriarch's great-grandchildren nor great-great-grandchildren ever became JWs.

Although known to be Anointed JW Matriarch's "favorite" child, her firstborn Son totally rejected not only his JW Mother's WatchTower faith, but even faith in God and the Bible. After graduating high school and attempting college in the early 1950s, Firstborn Son was drafted into the military, and volunteered as an airborne paratrooper. Afterwards, in the 1960s, Firstborn Son eventually settled his family about two hours drive from his JW Mother and siblings. However, over the following decades, Firstborn Son visited his JW Mother only infrequently, and then, only briefly.

The remainder of Anointed JW Matriarch's children married and lived locally. Anointed JW Matriarch's second oldest child, "Second Son", also never became a JW, although he occasionally attended meetings into his early 30s. Second Son earned a public reputation for sexual promiscuity during his teen years (1950s), and thereafter even into his senior years. Second Son gradually developed into a psycho-sociopath. Amongst many others, he was known to have propositioned his own mother-in-law early in his marriage, and later in life, he even propositioned at least two of his own daughters-in-law. Second Son was also believed to have occasionally engaged in sexual contact with both animals and other males during his adult years.

Third Son, ... , well let's just say that he is still living, and may eventually read this. Politely, Third Son also completely rejected his mother's WatchTower faith until the WatchTower Society forecast Armageddon for October 1975. Third Son and wife joined the JWs around 1973, but quickly became inactive as soon as it was apparent that 1975 was just another WatchTower false alarm. Third Son was eventually disfellowshipped after several years of inactivity -- for "adultery" Overall, Third Son was only slightly less "messed up" than was Second Son.

One day, about 12+ years after the death of "Anointed JW Matriarch", one of JW Matriarch's many grandsons mistakingly thought it time to reveal something that had long haunted him. Grandson revealed to Anointed JW Matriarch's Oldest Daughter -- by then a JW Pioneer -- that he had once been propositioned by Anointed JW Matriarch when he was a child.

Grandson related that when he was about 11 years old, he had spent the night at his grandparents' house. Sometime after everyone had gone to bed, and after he had fallen asleep, he was awakened and surprised by Anointed JW Matriarch crawling into bed with him. Anointed JW Matriarch, who reeked of wine, and who was dressed only in a bra and panties, snuggled up to him, and began relating an incident of fornication she had committed in her younger years. Grandson ignored Anointed JW Matriarch as much as possible, turned over and away from her, and pretended to go back to sleep. Drunken Anointed JW Matriarch soon fell asleep, and was gone by the morning.

Grandson also revealed to Oldest Daughter something else that he had never revealed to anyone. Even before he was old enough to enter grade school, he had begun to have the same nightmare that repeated itself until he was 8 or 9 years old. Even as a youngster, Grandson could never remember what about the nightmare so scared him, but only that "it" always occurred in his grandparents' bed.

JW Pioneer Oldest Daughter glared silently at Grandson as he revealed these "secrets". When he had finished, JW Pioneer Oldest Daughter proceeded to denounce Grandson as a "liar", and quickly departed in a "huff" -- never to raise the issue again, even after she did eventually start speaking to him again.

Grandson gradually repeated his "secrets" to some of his other non-JW relatives over the years. While not called a "liar" by the non-JWs, neither was there much of a reaction from them -- not even shock nor surprise. Time passed. Then, one day, Grandson not only told his "secrets" to the widow of "Second Son", but expressed his puzzlement as to why noone in the family had much of a reaction, except for JW Daughter's denunciation.

Second Son's Widow then told Grandson something that she had been keeping a secret since Second Son's death. Widow related that shortly before Second Son's gradual death, he revealed to her that his Mother, Anointed JW Matriarch, had regularly sexually molested him when he was a youngster. The molestation had even included full intercourse, which continued until Second Son reached puberty.

A clue had always been there. Anointed JW Matriarch's lifelong "pet name" for Second Son had been, "My Little Man".

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JEHOVAH'S WITNESS INCEST. In the late 1970s, a family of Jehovah's Witnesses "NEEDGREATERS" moved from southern California to serve with the Mount Vernon, Kentucky Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses, in Rockcastle County, Kentucky. Needgreaters are JW families who move to areas where there are few JWs, and the entire family door knocks 20-25 hours per week. Various family members -- parents and children -- thereafter regularly pioneered and regularly auxiliary pioneered for years. In the latter 1980s, the newlywed husband of the last daughter to marry from this JW Needgreater family discovered that his newlywed wife was no novice when it came to sexual matters. She eventually disclosed that she and her father had been regularly having sexual relations for years -- since she was a young teen -- and this allegedly was a family practice that had involved her older sister(s), and was allegedly practiced with the knowledge of the JW Mother. The newlywed JW Husband took this information to the Mount Vernon, Kentucky Body of Elders. Incestuous JW Father, who was then a Ministerial Servant, Literature Servant, and Pioneer, reportedly lost all his "privileges" in the congregation, and was "publicly reproved", but without the reason(s) for such being publicly disclosed to the other members of the congregation. In fact, inquiring members were told that Incestuous JW Father had been co-mingling funds while acting as Literature Servant. Shortly thereafter, Incestuous JW Father and Mother relocated themselves and their residential carpet cleaning business to Corbin, Kentucky -- a small southeastern Kentucky city only 40 miles away. No report was ever made to California nor Kentucky authorities, despite the fact that in succeeding years that numerous JW Elders in neighboring southeastern Kentucky congregations were told of this criminal scenario.

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That was not the last time that the Body of Elders at the Mount Vernon, Kentucky Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses, in Rockcastle County, Kentucky, concealed criminal activity of a sexual nature committed by one of their members from local and state law enforcement. In 1998, a married 23 year-old Jehovah's Witness Husband-with-baby was caught by his JW Wife carrying on a casual sexual affair with the 13 year-old granddaughter of their elderly non-JW female neighbor. Rockcastle JW Husband had somehow become acquainted with the 13 year-old girl while employed by one of the local JW Elders, whose home and contracting business were located next door to the home of the teen and her grandmother. Shortly after switching employment, Rockcastle JW Husband and family moved to a house which also was next door to the home of the non-JW GrandMother and her granddaughter. It is not known if the sexual affair began while JW Husband was working for JW Elder, or later, after Rockcastle JW Husband moved next door. However, when JW Wife went crying to the Body of Elders with the news of Rockcastle JW Husband's infidelity, JW Wife told the BOE that she had already had multiple conversations with the 13 year-old's GrandMother regarding the situation. Presumably to determine the extent of the spread of bad publicity, and the possibility of conducting damage control, JW Elder hurried to meet with the non-JW grandmother, first, and then later, with other JWs to whom JW Wife had blabbed before warned against such by the BOE. Whatever JW Elder did or said during his meeting with non-JW GrandMother is not known, but the end result was that the crime was not reported to authorities, and local JWs were tactfully advised not to spread knowledge of the crime any further. Eventually, Rockcastle JW Husband was merely "privately reproved" for this minor indiscretion of committing statutory rape.

The result - results? In August 2001, 25 year-old Rockcastle Husband was arrested, investigated, but ultimately not prosecuted for attempted sexual assault on a sleeping 17 year-old female non-relative, who along with a teenage female relative of JW Wife, had been spending the night at his home.

In late 2004, 29 year-old Rockcastle Husband was arrested and indicted on charges of "rape of a child less than 14 years of age" after his wife's 13 year-old cousin, whom had been temporarily living with them, revealed to a school friend that Rockcastle Husband and she were involved in an ongoing sexual affair. That school friend reported what she had been told to her own Baptist Pastor, who, unlike Jehovah's Witness Ministers, immediately notified the authorities. After having spent 53 weeks in county jail, the local Prosecutor allowed 30 year-old Rockcastle Husband to plead guilty to "unlawful transaction with a minor, second degree", in exchange for "time served", after the recently divorced 30 year-old Rockcastle Husband's new "fiance" refused to further cooperate in the prosecution of her "rape".

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KENTUCKY v. DANIEL MUDGE was a 2006-7 Kentucky criminal court case which involved Daniel Scott Mudge, age 25, of Danville, Kentucky, in Boyle County, Kentucky. Given that Daniel S. Mudge is the son of prominent Jehovah's Witness Elder, Donald Mudge, a/k/a Don Mudge, whose status as a Jehovah's Witness Presiding Overseer and Special Pioneer has been featured in multiple media articles in New York as well as Kentucky, including one that indicated that he and his son were "partners" in Super Clean Carpets Inc., it is likely that Dan Mudge was also a JW Elder at the time. Notably, no mention was made of Mudge's status as a Jehovah's Witness Minister in the local media's extremely abbreviated coverage of this criminal matter. (A now-retired prominent local JW Elder may still have been employed at the time by the entity that reports/controls news for that area.) In June 2006, the married-with-child Daniel Mudge traveled to an adjacent county to meet a 15 year-old female for sex. Mudge was highly disappointed when he was met by law enforcement officers, who informed him that he had been communicating via computer with a police sting operation. In January 2007, Mudge pleaded guilty to charges of criminal attempt to unlawfully transact with a minor under 16, and distribution of obscene matter to a minor (certain photos of himself). Mudge was sentenced to five years in prison, but did not serve the entire sentence. Notably, Dan Mudge had served only one day in local jail prior to prison sentencing, which indicates that someone hurried to bail him out of jail when he was initially arrested.

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KENTUCKY v. GEORGE VERNON was a 1992-3 Kentucky criminal court case involving a Jehovah's Witness Elder or MS named George Vernon, of the London, Kentucky Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses, in Laurel County, Kentucky. In the late 1980s, George Vernon befriended the three children (two boys and a girl) of a single JW Mother (an elementary schoolteacher) in the London congregation, supposedly due to there being no fatherly presence. At some point thereafter, one or more of the children told the JW Mother that Vernon was touching them inappropriately. The JW Mother reported this to the local Elders, but Vernon denied such. When the Elders told JW Mother that Vernon had denied such, and no more could be done, JW Mother mentioned reporting such to the local police. However, the Elders warned JW Mother that she could be disfellowshipped (excommunicated) for defaming Vernon. Thereafter, JW Mother and family were allegedly "marked" and shunned within the congregation. Much later, the "touching" was reported to a school authority by one of the children. The school dutifully reported the matter to the police, who investigated and charged Vernon. The local Prosecutor thought that he had a slam-dunk case. That was, until the trial. The Prosecutor got little if any cooperation from anyone other than the victims and their mother. Each session, the seats behind Vernon were packed with local JWs supporting him; with the seats behind the victims being nearly empty. Vernon was ultimately convicted on a lesser charge that resulted in only one year in county jail. Afterwards, the Prosecutor naively sent a futile letter to the WatchTower Society outlining the injustices at the hands of the local JWs that had occurred during the investigation and prosecution, along with his disgust.

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KENTUCKY v. THOMAS DEWAYNE STRATTON was a 2010-11 Kentucky criminal court case. Thomas D. Stratton, age 37, of Harrodsburg, Kentucky, was indicted by a Mercer County Grand Jury, in November 2010, on the charge of first-degree sexual abuse, for allegedly subjecting a girl under the age of 12 to sexual contact, between January and June of 2010 (rumored to have been Stratton's step-daughter). In July 2011, in what was probably a plea deal, Thomas Stratton was sentenced to four years in prison on the amended charge of second-degree unlawful transaction with a minor. Apparently, noone had bailed Stratton out of county jail given that he received credit for 266 days served.

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Does anyone remember the supposedly "non-practicing" Homosexual Jehovah's Witness Male, then in his 40s, who was a member of the Richmond, Kentucky Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses from the 1960s through the 1990s? Homo JW Male taught "art" either at local area high schools or at Eastern Kentucky University -- maybe both at various points. Around 1970, Homo JW Male got into some type of trouble with the Richmond congregation after he started hosting sleepovers for the three teenage sons of a divorced JW Mother. That family (possibly "Dotson" or "Dodson") quickly moved away, while Homo JW Male was "privately" counseled. The Congregation Overseer, Ralph Moore, now of Elkhart, Indiana, never warned other parents or children inside the congregation of any particular "danger", but the aforementioned Mother and Sons (Randy, etc.) did so prior to fleeing Richmond. Does anyone remember the full names of any of these parties, or whatever happened to them???

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SOUTH CAROLINA v. CLIFTON REED JR was a 2008-09 South Carolina criminal court case which involved an African-American male Jehovah's Witness, named Clifton Reed Jr., aka Reed Clifton Jr., then age 28, who apparently was originally from the New York City area, and whom may currently be living in NYC, or elsewhere. In February 2008, Clifton Reed was arrested on charges of Obscene/Criminal Solicitation of a Minor. Interestingly, Reed had made the acquaintance of a 14 year-old female minor while attending a Jehovah's Witnesses "Get-Together" held in Charleston, South Carolina, which had been held two months earlier back during the Christmas - New Years holidays. Thereafter, the 27 year-old Reed began communicating with the 14 year-old teenager via text, telephone, and social media. Those communications rapidly evolved into solicitations for sex with the minor. The teenager reported the inappropriate communications to her JW Parents, who in turn reported Reed to local police. Clifton Reed was convicted in March 2009, and apparently served an unknown short jail or prison term. Clifton Reed Jr. is supposed to be a registered sex offender, but his current residence is unknown.

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OKLAHOMA v. STACEY GARRETT BEGAY and OKLAHOMA v. TERRY D. BEGAY were related but separate 2011-14 Oklahoma criminal court prosecutions. In April 2011, Tahlequah, Oklahoma police rushed to the rental home of Stacey Begay, age 46, and Terry Begay, age 46, after neighbors reported gunfire. There, Tahlequah police discovered that Terry Begay had fired a 9mm pistol four times at her husband, Stacey Begay, and once at the couple's adopted 16 year-old daughter, Christina Begay. Noone was struck by the gunshots -- although four bullet holes were found in the walls, and a fifth found in a couch. Terry Begay told police that she had returned home and discovered her husband and her adopted daughter engaging in sexual activity in the daughter's bedroom. Stacey Begay was arrested on child abuse charges, while Terry D. Begay was arrested on multiple assault charges.

Stacey Begay and Christina Begay both provided written statements to investigators admitting to having had a sexual relationship for about five months. For unknown reasons, the local Cherokee County Prosecutor dropped the assault charges against former police officer and local Cherokee tribe member Terry Begay and gave her immunity in exchange for her testifying against the self-confessed (Nevada Shoshone tribe member) Stacey Begay. However, during the September 2012 trial, Terry Begay refused to uphold her side of the bargain. At the September 2012 trial of Stacey Begay, not only did Terry Begay refuse to testify against her husband, but Stacey Begay even recanted his earlier confession, and claimed that he did not remember making the confession, and that he had signed the confession while in a "zombie state", while on unspecified "medication". Despite such, Stacey Garratt Begay was convicted by a jury of his peers. In November 2012, Stacey G. Begay was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Interestingly, three members -- probably the "Elders" -- of the Tahlequah, Oklahoma Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses submitted positive "character" statements to the court on behalf of Stacey Begay. According to the pre-sentence report, Stacey G. Begay asked the court to consider his plea for parole so that "I can keep on doing Jehovahs will."

After Stacey Begay was convicted, Christina Begay began to publicly proclaim that police and prosecutors had forced her and her father to say they had been having sex for several months. She also claimed the DA threatened her and prevented her from testifying on her fathers behalf. She said she was determined to bring the truth to light that her father was innocent. Christina Begay eventually testified to the trial judge that her father never touched her or did anything wrong, and said that they both had tried to tell authorities the truth when Stacey and Terry Begay were first arrested. The trial judge then ordered a new trial for Stacey Begay.

However, at that second trial, the prosecutor submitted DNA test results which proved that Christina's baby -- born in December 2011 -- belonged to Stacey Begay. (Why did this not occur in first trial?) Stacey Begay was convicted a second time, and his sentence was increased to 37 years in prison, of which 85% must be served.

In October 2012, Terry D. Begay was charged with perjury. In January 2014, those charges were dropped -- reportedly due to Begay's "ongoing medical evaluations" -- in exchange for Terry Begay agreeing to pay the court costs.

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COLORADO v. ZURI-KYE LATIFBAY McGHEE and COLORADO v. SOLEDAD McGHEE (Outcome unknown.) were related 2005-06 Colorado state SERIAL CHILD MOLESTER prosecutions. Appeal denied by Colorado Supreme Court in 2010. In August 2006, Zuri-Kye Latifbay McGhee, of Aurora, Colorado, was convicted of 63 sexual assault related charges involving 18 boys and one girl between the ages of 9 and 16, from 2000 until his arrest in July 2005. McGhee was sentenced to 508 years, and barring a miracle, he will never be released from prison.

Zuri McGhee, age 32, was an effeminate African-American male, WHO WITH THE HELP OF HIS MOTHER, Soledad McGhee, age 54, posed as an early-teens male in order to make the acquaintance of, and entrap, his young victims. Zuri McGhee dressed like a teenager, rode bikes and skateboards, played video games, hosted sleepovers at his own apartment, and hosted parties at motel rooms. He even once dressed up like Michael Jackson during Halloween. Soledad McGhee allegedly also introduced her son to two families with young boys, and even would drive her adult son to overnight sleepovers at the home of child victims. Soledad McGhee was herself also charged with 4 counts of sexual assault.

NEW MEXICO v. ZURI-KYE LATIFBAY McGHEE was a previous 1998 CHILD MOLESTATION prosecution. Prior to relocating to Aurora, Colorado, in April 1999, McGhee was charged with 23 counts of "criminal sexual contact with a minor" in his hometown of Roswell, New Mexico. Those charges involved 6 youthful victims. However, the Roswell Prosecutor allowed McGhee to plead guilty to "contributing to the delinquency of a minor", and McGhee served less than 11 months in jail, and came out with no sex offender record. This is why some Prosecutors will also serve time in HELL.

At the Colorado trial, McGhee's defense attorney attempted to use the "Jehovah's Witness Defense", but the jury did not buy into such. McGhee's attorney claimed that McGhee was a "lost soul" who had been psychologically and emotionally damaged by his upbringing as a Jehovah's Witness. McGhee's unidentified older sister confirmed to reporters that they both had been reared as JWs by Soledad McGhee back in Roswell, NM. The sister even told reporters that when her ex-husband learned that McGhee was relocating to Aurora to live with her, that the (JW?) ex-husband filed a restraining order to keep McGhee away from HIS KIDS.

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WASHINGTON v. JASCHA GABRIEL KOZELISKY was a 2002 state of Washington criminal case. According to state records, Jascha G. Kozelisky was convicted (possibly a plea bargain) of fourth-degree assault in 2002. Reportedly, Kozelisky had assaulted (non-sexual) a young female child. (Some former members of Josh Kozelisky's congregation have publicly alleged that the "original" charge/investigation was "sexually-related".)

WASHINGTON v. JASCHA G. KOZELISKY is an ongoing 2008-2012 state of Washington criminal case. In December 2007, then 34 year-old Jascha Kozelisky was caught molesting an "unidentified" ten year-old female (possibly Kozelisky's niece), in her own bedroom, which apparently was located in another residence also located on the same property where Kozelisky resided. Kozelisky was caught by an adult female identified only as the "victim's mother" (possibly Kozelisky's aunt). Allegedly, the victim's mother instructed her young daughter not to tell anyone about the molestation. Thus, it is unclear exactly how authorities were alerted to the ongoing molestations. Reportedly, the later police investigation revealed that Josh Kozelisky had molested the ten year-old female approximately 10 times -- starting when she was only nine years-old.

Reportedly, after a local newspaper published an article about Kozelisky, five persons approached local law enforcement to report that they knew of other young girls who had claimed that they had been molested by Kozelisky, but the people whom those young girls had told about their molestation had failed to report those allegations to law enforcement.

In June 2008, Jascha Gabriel Koselisky, of Port Townsend, Washington, was allowed to "plead guilty" to second-degree child molestation. Stating that Kozelisky was a "perfect candidate" for Washington's Special Sex Offender Alternative Sentencing program, Judge Craddock Verser sentenced Kozelisky to a mere six months in county jail, and thereafter to undergo sex offender treatment for three years. Judge Verser even approved Kozelisky for "work release". Koselisky possibly served only 30 days in jail. Why was Josh Kozelisky worthy of such leniency? Kozelisky was a Jehovah's Witness -- possibly a Ministerial Servant or even an Elder at one time. According to state records, Jascha Kozelisky is a partner with his father, Jaime Kozelisky, at Kozelisky's Home Service, Inc. Jaime Kozelisky was at one time the Presiding Overseer at the Port Townsend, Washington Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses. Jascha Kozelisky was reared as one of Jehovah's Witnesses.

Kozelisky was allowed to move back to the family compound in October 2010. The "victim's mother" was even appointed as Kozelisky's "supervisor". In November 2011, Josh Kozelisky was arrested on charges of violating the terms of his probation/supervision after the 2008 victim, now age 14, reported that Kozelisky had started entering her bedroom, which she shares with her five year-old sister, without the required supervision of her mother. The "victim's mother" allegedly knew of the repeated violations, but failed to report such to authorities. Jascha Kozelisky faces only another 15-21 months in jail per the terms of his 2008 plea bargain. He will also receive credit for the 30 days jail time served in 2008.

Some former members of Josh Kozelisky's congregation have publicly alleged that this is actually the second "pedophile scandal" which has recently occurred at the Port Townsend, Washington Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses. It has been alleged that in the mid-1990s, another ELDER confessed to the local Body of Elders to having had sexually molested his own nephew -- assumed to have also been a member of this congregation. It is further alleged that that Child Molestor was NOT reported to police, but simply made to "step down" (resign) as an Elder, and for his home to no longer be used as one of the congregation's "Book Studies".

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TEXAS v. ROBERT ALLEN LEE was a 1992-1997 Texas criminal court case. Robert Lee is a lifelong registered sex offender who currently resides in Roberts County, Miami, Texas. In February 1993, Robert A. Lee, then age 43, was indicted for aggravated sexual contact with a 13 year-old female. Pursuant to a plea bargain agreement, Robert Lee pleaded guilty to the reduced offense of sexual assault. Lee was sentenced to 10 years in prison, probated for 8 years, and a small fine. Bob Lee was released from prison in April 1995 under multiple terms of probation, including that he have no contact with anyone under the age of 18.

In June 1995, Lee reported to his probation officer that he was spending two days per week in field service activity. Lee stated that he was going door-to-door in residential neighborhoods and "witnessing" as a Jehovah's Witness, along with other members of his JW congregation. Lee refused to identify the neighborhoods; refused to specifically define "witnessing", and refused to identify the JWs who accompanied him. Lee's probation officer concluded that through these activities Lee could come into contact with children in violation of a condition of his probation. Upon receiving the probation officer's report, the trial court conducted a hearing and ordered Lee to stop witnessing door-to-door. However, Lee was told that he could continue "witnessing" in places where there were no children, such as nursing homes.

Lee supposedly stopped witnessing door-to-door, but began witnessing by telephone. Lee's probation officer then became concerned that Lee might be telephoning children. In July 1995, Lee refused to answer questions whether he was having contact with children, and Lee also refused to answer questions about his telephone witnessing activities -- contending that his "witnessing" was none of the probation officer's business. For those, and other probation violations, Lee's probation was revoked, and he was sentenced to 7 years in prison. On Lee's appeal, the Texas Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court's sentence, stating in part:

In applying the three Simpson factors for determining whether probationary conditions are valid to a determination of whether [probation officer's] questions were valid, we note that [probation officer's] questions regarding appellant's religious activities, although probably poorly phrased, were directly related to the crime of sexual assault, were directly related to criminal conduct, were designed to prohibit conduct that was reasonably related to future episodes of sexual assault, and served the statutory ends of probation that appellant successfully complete his probation without committing further acts of sexual assault. [Probation officer] was attempting to determine whether appellant was complying with the condition of his probation prohibiting contact with minors. Restricting a sex offender's right to roam residential neighborhoods and telephone strangers contributes significantly both to the rehabilitation of the convicted person and to the protection of society.

In applying Simpson's analysis of this issue to our case, we note that [probation officer's] questions did not relegate to a nonjudicial officer the unrestricted right to make appellant's religious decisions, were not subjective and ambiguous, and did not exceed the diminished expectation of privacy of a probationer allowed to remain at conditional liberty after conviction of a crime. Any convicted sex offender can expect questions from his probation officer regarding his or her contact with minors, even if this contact is made in connection with "religious activities." ... ...

In applying the Macias factors to [probation officer's] questions, we note that [probation officer's] questions were reasonably related to the purposes of probation because they were designed to provide [probation officer] with information necessary to determine whether appellant was contacting minors in violation of a condition of his probation. [Probation officer's] questions also advanced the probationary purposes of protecting society from the wanderings of a sex offender and deterring appellant from using his religious activities as a means for finding potential victims. We conclude that application of the analyses of both Simpson and Macias to this case leads to the reasonable conclusion that [probation officer's] questions were not unduly intrusive into appellant's religious freedom.

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VIRGINIA v. PAUL SUTHERLAND was a 2011-12 Virginia criminal court case. In April 2012, Paul Sutherland, age 46, of Lebanon, Virginia, pleaded guilty to 15 counts of carnal knowledge of a minor and three counts of forcible sodomy related to his having sexually molested his youngest daughter over a lengthy period of time. In May 2012, Sutherland was sentenced to 90 years in state prison, of which, 45 years must be served. Two to four local JWs reportedly testified on Sutherland's behalf during the sentencing phase of the trial.

Local JW leaders attempted to claim that Sutherland was merely a recent convert, whose recent conversion led him to ceasing the molestation. However, other locals have alleged that Sutherland's wife and other family members were longtime Jehovah's Witnesses, and that Suherland had "been around" the WatchTower religion for several years. Interestingly, they also allege that the molestation had continued throughout Sutherland's "conversion", and for eight months thereafter, until the molestation was finally made public after Sutherland and his wife separated -- possibly after JW Wife discovered that Sutherland had a girlfriend on the side.

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MISSOURI v. JIM MAZUR was a 2005-07 Missouri state criminal court case. In June 2005, Jim N. Mazur, then age 63, who then lived in Missouri Valley, Iowa, was charged in Taney County (Branson), Missouri with statutory sodomy relating to the February 2005 molestation of his 7 year-old granddaughter while he and his wife, Bonnie Mazur, visited overnight at the home of a son living in Branson. In June 2007, Mazur pleaded guilty to an amended charge of first degree child molestation, and was sentenced to five years in state prison. Mazur served less than his full sentence. After Mazur's release on bond after arrest, and until time of trial, Mazur allegedly lived with Jehovah's Witness in-laws in Blair, Nebraska -- allegedly a JW Elder and Elderette. This court case was submitted by a tipster who alleges that Jim Mazur was a longtime JW Elder (for several years the Presiding Overseer at the Fort Scott Kansas Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses) who is a member of a large extended, multi-generation family of Jehovah's Witnesses(including family names other than Mazur) who have held prominent Elder and Presiding Overseer positions in Jehovah's Witness Congregations and WatchTower circuits located in Missouri, California, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, and possibly other western states. A second tipster insider alleges that this large, extended MAZUR Family of prominent JW Elders and JW COBEs has multiple secret alcoholics and multiple secret child molesters which has resulted in many of the family's children being "messed up" as adults, plus alleges that there even has been at least one suicide by a family incest victim. Additional documented info welcomed.

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CALIFORNIA v. JASON GLENN HALVERSON was a 2002 California appellate court case which affirmed the 2001 conviction of Jason G. Halverson on the charges of "sexual battery" and "assault with the intent to commit rape" for which Halverson was sentenced to two years in prison. This conviction related to 26 year-old Jason Halverson's April 2000 sexual assault on an 18 year-old LOWES co-worker at her apartment during her lunch break. Halverson apparently followed his co-worker home and made up an excuse to enter her apartment. There, Halverson repeatedly fondled her, and forced her to fondle him. The non-JW female reported the sexual assault to LOWES management as soon as she returned to work, and thereafter to local police.

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CALIFORNIA JEHOVAH'S WITNESS RAPIST. In 1995 and 1996, an early 20s age Married JW Male reportedly sexually assaulted two different teenage fellow Jehovah's Witness females living in Riverside, California , but he was never prosecuted for those specific crimes. Married JW Male was eventually convicted of sexually assaulting a youthful non-JW coworker in the early 2000s, and served a short prison term, after that non-JW Victim reported his assault to the authorities.

JW Teen #1 alleged that in 1995, when she was only 14 years-old, that Married JW Male, who occasionally worked for her JW Father, unexpectedly came to her home, while she home-alone, and persuaded her to go with him to his home to see his new pet birds. After showing JW Teen his pet birds, Married JW Male allegedly showed JW Teen his other "bird", and forced her to perform oral sex on him. JW Teen #1 claimed that she did not tell anyone about that first incident because she was afraid she would be disfellowshipped, and that it would break up Married JW Male's marriage.

JW Teen alleged that Married JW Male continued to come to her home when her parents weren't there, but she would not let him inside. JW Teen #1 further alleged that, in August 1996, on a day when she was again home alone, and while she had been smoking marijuana and drinking wine, that Married JW Male entered her home through an unlocked door. Married JW Male and JW Teen ended up performing oral sex on each other.

JW Teen #1 has publicly stated that she EVENTUALLY confessed the events to her local Jehovah's Witness Elders, and that it was only SOMETIME THEREAFTER that she reported the alleged sexual assaults to the local police.

JW Teen #2 publicly alleged that she was also sexually assaulted by that very same early 20s aged Married JW Male during the same time period that he sexually assaulted JW Teen #1. JW Teen #2 alleges that around 1995/6, when she was 15 years-old, that she attended a pool-party "get-together" at the home of a fellow Jehovah's Witness, which was also attended by Married JW Male and his JW Wife. JW Teen alleges that that JW Wife left the party at some point. JW Teen claims that when the other partying JWs eventually went inside to eat, that Married JW Male got into the jacuzzi with her. Married JW Male allegedly proceeded to fondle her. He also allegedly forced her to masturbate him. JW Teen #2 eventually told her Psychologist about the sexual assault, who encouraged that such be reported to the police. Again, Married JW Male was never prosecuted.

It was not until the early 2000s that these two former Jehovah's Witness Females took the witness stand and told their stories during Married JW Male's later prosecution and conviction for having sexually assaulted a youthful non-JW co-worker. Does anyone else suspect that there is more to these accounts, and that the lack of the two earlier prosecutions were not the fault of the local police or the local Prosecutor's office? Me suspects that the local JW Elders did not become anxious to nail Married JW Male until after he was disfellowshipped after being publicly charged for sexual assault by his non-JW co-worker.